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Michele Bachmann's misstatements: A constant staff worry

Former senior aides painted a picture of a shoot-from-the-lip member. |
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Bachmann’s 2010 reelection opponent, Democrat Tarryl Clark, unsuccessfully sought to make an issue out of Bachmann’s credibility, citing PolitiFact ratings and similar verdicts issued by Minnesota Public Radio and other media outlets. But in the crucible of a presidential campaign, Bachmann’s tendency to play fast and loose with the facts may be catching up to her.

Twice in August, the congresswoman was forced to explain statements that appeared to be directly contradicted by fact. Bachmann repeatedly told interviewers the morning of August 14 that she was looking forward to a family reunion that was taking place that afternoon. And that evening, when a reporter asked her why she’d arrived late to the Black Hawk County Republican Party dinner, Bachmann responded, “We had a big family reunion just north of Waterloo.”

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But her mother and two cousins told POLITICO afterward that they were at that reunion — and Bachmann did not attend.

Campaign spokeswoman Alice Stewart said that the congresswoman’s statement was not false: “She was meeting with family members at a different location,” at the same time the reunion was going on. But Stewart declined to say who the family members were, where they met or why Bachmann referred to a specific event as if she’d been there.

Around the same time, Bachmann was also forced to explain long-standing questions about her ownership stake in her husband’s family farm. She has listed it as a source of income on her congressional financial disclosures since 2006.

Through 2008, the farm had received more than a quarter-million dollars in federal agricultural subsidies, leading to questions about whether that was incompatible with the congresswoman’s opposition to government handouts. Her staff has claimed that Bachmann wasn’t involved in the decision to seek the subsidies and though she got a share of the profits, she didn’t directly benefit because it was reinvested. Bachmann herself has said she and her husband haven’t received “a penny” from their share of his family’s farm.

Yet when she filed her latest financial disclosure in August, she again listed income from the farm.

Her staffers often fall on their swords, shouldering the blame themselves for Bachmann’s flubs.

“Michele is an extremely intelligent person. On occasion she is given incorrect information and, as a campaign, we do everything we can to make sure she has the most accurate information to work with,” Stewart said.

Bachmann herself, confronted with the litany of falsehoods, tends to shrug them off as inadvertent.

“Well, certainly, when you speak six times a day, slip-ups can occur,” she told reporters after an appearance in South Carolina last month. What voters really care about, she added, was the economy.

The congresswoman also has another tactic: Blame the media. That’s what she did in an interview she gave to a local Christian radio station in the aftermath of the flap over her Iran-Iraq partition claim in 2007.

“It’s an interesting thing. There’s a reason why a lot of politicians don’t say anything or are very unwilling to speak up. Especially if you’re a conservative, you’re just slapped up mercilessly in the press,” she said. “That being said, I have to be extremely careful what I say and how I say it.”

Let's see, who was the last person who made plenty of stupid comments but still got elected? That's right, Barry Soetoro. Funny thing about those people who have ABSOLUTELY NO leadership experience, at all...

"I've been to all 57 states", "I respect the marine corpses" "Veterans day is a day to remember all the dead soldiers that are alive" "The price of gas would be less if people filled their tires and got tuneups"

The article doesn't even talk about the most hilarious wacky babble-talk Bachmann does, which is when she tries to speak on historical events. It's as if she picked the stupidest Tea Partier out of the crowd, and said "Quick, write me a few lines about the Founding Fathers!!!!". My all time favorite was when she confused John Wayne with John Wayne Gacy. It was absolutely priceless.

The defects and flaws of Bachmann, Perry and Obama should all be part of the political dialogue. I believe that Perry's illegal immigration with no border, sanctuary cities and free college for illegals immigrates will be the issue that knocks him out of the race for the WH.

Yeah, it's really emabarrasing to have a candidate who claims to have visited all 57 states, who referred to her own grandmother as a typical white person, who sat in her pastor's church for twenty years listening to racist rants against her own country, who spent time hanging around with a known and unrepentent domestic terrorist, and who has publicly complained that the Constitution is deficient because it doesn't say what the government has the right to do to you.

I am concerned about her personal attacks on other GOP candidates. The exchanges that she got into with Pawlenty were unfortunate. The most guilty of personal attacks is Santorum. I don't like the personal attacks of Paul on Perry. The exchanges between Romney and Perry are petty.

It is pretty funny to have the misstatements of Obama and Biden as the backdrop for this vital report. I'm still trying to figure out how Muslims have been an important part of American history since the Revolution, save the Barbary pirates. I'm onboard with the promise of Solyndra and I know that, if we just print a bit more money, we'll have jobs, jobs, jobs. Seriously, if I felt the press hadn't been so gaga for Obama, it would be easier to read and consider these kinds of stories with less distrust. I think the attempt to Palin-ize Bachmann continues. And I can't figure out where the partisanship ends and the misogyny begins. I did hear a pundit talk about how short she is. Wow. Anybody ever say that about Robert Reich?

Its obvious Bachmann is held at a higher standard then Obama. She should be. If we are going to replace the inept leader, Obama we need someone that is at least better than him even if it is as inane as a misstatment.

Its obvious Bachmann is held at a higher standard then Obama. She should be. If we are going to replace the inept leader, Obama we need someone that is at least better than him even if it is as inane as a misstatment.

Yeah, it's really emabarrasing to have a candidate who claims to have visited all 57 states, who referred to her own grandmother as a typical white person, who sat in her pastor's church for twenty years listening to racist rants against her own country, who spent time hanging around with a known and unrepentent domestic terrorist, and who has publicly complained that the Constitution is deficient because it doesn't say what the government has the right to do to you.

Yeah, all these mis-statements by Bachmann are really troubling.....

Other than 57states, these ARE NOT mis-statements. On the on hand, Bachmann clearly has trouble with the facts, like most CONservatives. A problem with the facts, this is nothing new.